CONCEALED WEAPONS PROPOSAL FAVORED BY MOST, SAYS DRISKILL

State Rep. Joe Driskill said he had no idea reaction would be so favorable to his amendment to an anti-crime bill that would provide a way for some citizens to legally carry concealed weapons.

The measure was approved by an overwhelming 124-24 margin. The vote was preceded by a flood of letters spearheaded by the National Rifle Association.

Driskill said he received between 300 and 400 calls, with only a handful opposed to the idea.

"I had no conception of the kind of passion this would invoke," said Driskill, a Democrat from Poplar Bluff.

While traveling in his district last weekend, Driskill said dozens of people expressed their support of the measure. Not all who were supportive were NRA members; a broad range of people support the proposal, he said.

Driskill said those who expressed support most often were shopkeepers, who take large sums of money to the bank, and women who travel alone.

"The more publicity this gets, the more calls of support I receive," said Driskill.

Not everyone is enthusiastic over the idea of making carrying concealed weapons legal. However, Driskill and other supporters believe there are adequate safeguards to insure that only people who have a real need to carry guns would do so.

Many law enforcement officials have said they are stunned over the wide support in the House for the bill and are lobbying legislators to vote against the bill when it comes up for final passage. Others are targeting members of the Senate, which would have to approve the plan for passage.

They are also complaining of a lack of input into the bill. Driskill said he has offered to talk with law enforcement representatives about a compromise but no one has contacted him. He said staff of the Missouri Highway Patrol has expressed concern, but no one has talked to him. The patrol, he said, "has not shown me the respect and courtesy to come by and see me."

The bill is in the budget committee and could be taken up Wednesday or Thursday for a final vote.

Under the bill, county sheriffs could issue licenses to carry concealed weapons to qualified applicants 21 and older. To receive a license, applicants would have to state why they need to carry a concealed weapon. Convicted felons, alcoholics, people insane or physically disabled to the extent they are unable to safely use a gun would be exempt.

"Basically, their background has to be spotless," said Driskill.

An applicant would also have to pass a firearms safety course taught by the NRA or a law enforcement organization. There would be a nonrefundable application fee of $100. Applications would be renewed every five years."

Another safeguard of the bill, he said, is that weapons are prohibited from being taken into places like taverns, schools, government offices or carried at public gatherings.

To ease concerns, the bill was amended to give the state patrol authority to set statewide standards for sheriffs in making decisions on gun permits. The patrol would also draft a uniform application form.

"It does not take away any of the sheriff's discretion, but it does standardize the rules and regulations for the intent of the law," Driskill said.

"In my view, this amendment improved on the intent of the bill and will probably take us more toward a statewide coordinated effort."

One of the more vocal opponents is Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Norman Copeland. He doesn't think getting the highway patrol involved makes the bill any better.

"I'm concerned that the bill is ill-written, ill-conceived, and ill-thought-out," said Copeland. "It throws all the burden on the sheriffs to make sure everything is according to their bill, but some of the things we have to decide are not available to sheriffs."

Copeland said sheriffs don't have access to records of the mentally incompetent because they are confidential. Court cases where people are given a suspended imposition of sentence also are inaccessible.

Copeland, a retired highway patrolman, said the patrol is being asked to do something it should not be involved in.

"What they are doing is committing a non-political organization to the political arena," said Copeland. "Everything that comes along, they want to dump it on the highway patrol."

Although the amendment had overwhelming support in the House - including the support of all Southeast Missouri representatives - some members are giving their vote a second thought. One is Rep. Dennis Ziegenhorn, D-Sikeston, who admitted he may have made a mistake.

"That is a dumb bill," said Ziegenhorn. He said some calls in support of the bill are from people he would not want carrying a concealed gun.

"By passing this we've just made all people of this state aware of the fact that they can carry a concealed weapon if they get a permit, he said. "I know a lot of people are doing it illegally now, and those people probably aren't going to get a permit. This will make more people carry a weapon that didn't carry one before because they are going to worry about who else is carrying one."

Ziegenhorn said: "Even though my counterpart, whom I respect greatly, is getting lots of calls of appreciation, when the public gets aware of what we've done, there will be a lot of people saying, Don't make it where this is possible."

Ziegenhorn and Copeland said they wonder whether having a gun is always good protection.

"If you have a gun, and are being threatened and pull it, you'd better be prepared to use it." said Ziegenhorn. "If you don't, that aggressor is going to take that gun away and use it on you. I don't want to be caught in crossfire between a law-abiding citizen and a criminal."

Copeland said, "Most legitimate people may not fire, and will get a gun taken away from them and then used on them."

He said he fears having guns more accessible would cause problems in family disputes and cause accidental shootings.

Sen. John Dennis, D-Benton, who served as sheriff of Scott County for 24 years before entering the Senate 16 years ago, said he has reservations about the bill. He suggested that officers who stop cars might go from a presumption that a person does not have a gun to the presumption that they do have one.

"We have too many people carrying guns now," said Dennis. He said counties do not have money to hire additional deputies to research applications for permits.

Sen. Jerry Howard, D-Dexter, said, "I'm for it if the permitting process can be tied down solidly."

Ziegenhorn said that while he is strongly against gun control, the measure may be too extreme.

"I've always been a supporter of NRA, but I have a question of where they are coming from on this," said Ziegenhorn. "Just because they are the NRA does not make them 100 percent right."

Copeland said he and others in law enforcement are concerned that they were not consulted before the amendment was offered. Most were caught off guard amid an ambush of 84,000 letters from the NRA to lawmakers prior to the vote, he said.

"It's not that I'm opposed to someone having concealed weapons, but the way it is written throws everything on the sheriffs," said Copeland. "They didn't get advice from anybody; they just put us in the barrel without any input on the amendment."